In a rather humorous story relayed by Peter King in his Monday Morning Quarterback column, the Cleveland Browns reportedly called DE Cameron Jordan on Saturday instead of TE Jordan Cameron. The excerpt from King's column is after the jump, along with how King felt about the Browns' first-round trade.
On Calling the Wrong Person:
I've got a great story for you to lead the draft weekend column:
When Cal defensive end Cameron Jordan was taking a tour through his new business home -- the New Orleans Saints practice facility in Metairie, La. --on Saturday, his cell phone rang.
"Hi,'' said the voice on the other end. "Jordan? This is the Cleveland Browns ... '' The call was for some biographical information.
"Uh, yeah, this is Cameron Jordan,'' he said. "But the Saints already picked me.''
There was an awkward pause, and Cameron Jordan said: "I think you mean Jordan Cameron, you're looking for Jordan Cameron. That's not me.''
Cameron Jordan, the 24th pick in the draft, then hung up the phone. The Browns actually picked the right person -- USC tight end Jordan Cameron and had phoned him to tell him the good news -- and this was the call back to get biographical information from him.
Well, they do have something in common: They're both from the Pac-10.
I am a bit unclear if this means the Browns made the mistake on their second phone call attempt to the tight end, or if this was the first time they tried to contact him. Either way, I'm sure it was a really awkward moment for both parties involved.
On the Browns' First-Round Trade and Overall Draft:
• In Cleveland, GM Tom Heckert didn't try to outthink himself. Nine out of 10 general managers in the league would have done what Heckert did in moving down 21 spots in the first round for five picks combined in the first four rounds of this and next year's draft. That allowed the Browns to take a defensive tackle for a weak line (Baylor's Phil Taylor), a big receiver (Greg Little of UNC) for a weak position group, and the most interesting fullback in the draft, the versatile Owen Marecic from Stanford. And Heckert used his own second-rounder for an edge rusher, Sheard. And the Browns are now one of two teams with two first-rounders next year.
The debate for the Browns -- and it wasn't much of one, really -- was whether they should take a very good receiving prospect (Julio Jones) or take five prime picks to re-shape the roster in the 4-3 defensive image and West Coast offensive image of the Mike Holmgren regime. So it wasn't hard to work out the details of the deal with Atlanta. "Everyone here was excited about the ability to add multiple players with high picks,'' Heckert said. "We have holes to fill, like all teams do, and where we're at as a franchise, we need players. Lots of players. Atlanta was in a different place than we were were."